Open Government Blog

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Growing by Shrinking - Consolidating Data on the Open Government Portal

By Ross Thompson on June 17, 2021

We have removed almost 60,000 records from the Open Government Portal.  We think it’s going to make the portal better. If you’re intrigued, read on! And if you disagree, do let us know! Canada’s Open Government Portal has come a long way since it was launched eight years ago. It was originally called the Open Data Portal and was focused on making as much data available as possible that was…

More government information at your fingertips

By Ruth Naylor on March 6, 2020

On January 12, 2020, for the very first time, Canadians could access Question Period notes through the Open Government Portal, providing them further insight into government issues of the day.  These notes are prepared by departments to assist Cabinet ministers when taking part in the daily Question Period in the House of Commons. Question Period is an important part of our parliamentary…

Evolving Canada’s Open Government Portal

By André Whittingham on January 9, 2020

Well, here it is…my very first blog ever!  As the (relatively) new manager of the development team responsible for open.canada.ca, I thought this would be a great opportunity to talk about some of the things our team is focused on and how we’re fundamentally changing the way we do business.  Major Software Release If you regularly visit our site you may have noticed it’s been faster…

These youth care about the future of open government

By Molly Rock on August 26, 2019

Canada’s youth have the drive and the talent to break into the open government space and create projects that change the way we look at open data and open information. This is a reality underscored by the winners of the Open Government Student Challenge. The challenge called on Canadian students to show us their work with open data and information available on open.canada.ca, for a chance to be…

A step towards more open government

By Ruth Naylor on August 22, 2019

Canadians can now go online and see one of the first milestones of the new Access to Information Act, which was recently amended to make the federal government more open to the public it serves. As of July 30, 2019, the titles of more than 2,200 memoranda received by ministers and deputy ministers in June 2019 are posted on the Open Government Portal. The titles are searchable, including by date…

Tracking results from the 2018-2020 National Action Plan on Open Government

By Nadiya Safonova on May 7, 2019

In December 2018, Canada’s 2018-2020 National Action Plan on Open Government went live. This is Canada’s fourth plan on Open Government, and we think it is our most ambitious to date. It’s important that we report our progress to Canadians. Previously, we created a Quarterly Progress Tracker to tell you what we had done in implementing our commitments. Overall this was a good experience but we…

GC Open Source, the story so far

By Guillaume Charest on April 24, 2019

2018 was undeniably the year of “digital” for our government. Among many other developments, we introduced a set of Digital Standards, began experimenting with delivering services through smart devices and launched the Digital Operations Strategic Plan, our plan to deliver better services to Canadians. Anchoring all of these pieces is our desire to work more openly with citizens and partners to…

Interactive data visualization tool

By Stan Lee on March 28, 2019

As the Public Service Commission of Canada’s Open Government Champion, I am pleased to share with you a new interactive data visualization tool. It was developed to help public servants and Canadians better understand and interpret the results of the Staffing and Non-Partisanship Survey. The purpose of the tool is to show the survey results in a clear, efficient and customizable way using graphs…

Open Data in Canada: A look at the Numbers…

By Open Government Team on March 1, 2019

We’re celebrating the worldwide Open Data Day on March 2nd, 2019 by looking at Canada’s open data numbers and accomplishments. To mark this occasion, we’d like to highlight a few facts that show the growth of open data in the Government of Canada. We also want to share some of the steps we are taking to improve our Open Government Portal information service. The Open Government Portal The…

Data visualisation: How the National Energy Board succeeded to make its data more accessible

By Ryan Hum on January 16, 2019

The Data Visualization Primer, put together by the National Energy Board (NEB) in collaboration with Dr. Doris Kosminsky and the Open Data Team at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, is a way for us to share what we have learned in building data visualization projects. From the get-go, our Data Visualization Initiative (DVI) was not an end to itself. This initiative was designed as a…

2018 Open Gov Highlights

By Jaimie Boyd on January 7, 2019

It’s been a big year for open government in the Government of Canada! We launched a new National Action Plan on Open Government, took on the role of lead government chair of the Open Government Partnership, and tied for first place on the 2018 Open Data Barometer. Here are a few of my highlights from 2018. This is a totally subjective list, based entirely on views from the trenches. As always,…

Meet the team: faces of Canada’s 2016 to 2018 Open Government Plan

By Sarah Macleod on December 3, 2018

Hi, I’m Sarah. My job is to ensure that our open government work is on track. The Government of Canada is a member of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), the global organization responsible for coordinating open government made up of 79 countries. The OGP requires each member to develop National Action Plans on Open Government every two years. We then measure our progress on implementing…

A few reasons why you will want to attend the Canadian Open Data Summit 2018: Learn, connect and be inspired

By Paul Connor, Mary Wiley on October 29, 2018

The authors of the blog are the lead organizers for the 5th edition of the Canadian Open Data Summit (CODS). This year’s Canadian Open Data Summit (CODS) will be held in Niagara Falls, Ontario from November 7 to 9, 2018. Niagara is a region with connections between 12 local area municipalities and over 200 other public, private, and non-profit organizations. Together, these groups are…

Towards a New Open Government Guidebook

By Open Government Team on July 25, 2018

Since the Open Government portal launched in 2011, we’ve learned a lot about releasing data and information. We’ve heard from data users and curators, worked through challenges and shared knowledge. We’ve now compiled these best practices into an Open Government Guidebook to make the process of releasing data easier and clearer for government organizations. Ultimately, we are hoping to help…

Multilateral intergovernmental collaboration on identifying datasets of high value

By Moses Iziomon on June 28, 2018

Open data provides citizens with huge benefits on a daily basis. Among other things, it gets you your weather forecast, improves transportation services and allows you to analyze budgetary datasets to understand government expenditures. Federal, provincial and territorial governments (and municipalities) across Canada are custodians of a large amount of data. Currently, each government defines…

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